Stripes and Feathers
by greysky3
Summary: Sequel to Gray Like Ivy. The flock meets Ivy again-but this time, she has her own flock of pint-sized bird kids. Meanwhile, the whitecoats are still trying to gather their specimens...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Sorry this is so short. People kept saying I should continue Gray Like Ivy, make a sequel, so I did. But it was all because of reviews! Keep reviewing, and I'll be very grateful (which means I'll update faster). **

One phone call is all it took for me to send the flock and Total hurtling into a code-red emergency flight to Baltimore. Ivy had called. She had said she was sorry, she wanted to be Ivy again, and she had no more money. Apparently she had made a flock with bird kids from her lab.

She had told me in her tiny, innocent voice that her quarters were running out, and I told her I'd be there. _Hang on, Ivy_.

I flapped more powerfully, surveying the harbor. Baltimore was darker, the water grayer, in February. It had already been three months since I'd last seen Ivy. The flock was flying around me quietly, sensing my tension. Even Total wasn't whining, which was a plus.

I saw the place where we'd agreed to meet. It was next to the U.S.S. Constellation, the ship we had visited when we were together in Baltimore, last time. I saw a cluster of people down below, but none could be recognizable from so high. The gray sky darkened by clouds was no help either.

I landed softly, and the flock followed, five small noises behind me. I put my hand over my eyes to see better, wondering where they were. Suddenly, a small figure came running. I knew it was Ivy, and she came around and hugged me around the waist, unable to reach any higher.

I hugged back, and she let go and for a moment just smiled. I looked behind her and saw two little kids shuffling over. One was a boy, about Ivy's age. He had a leather bomber jacket on, which was a little big for him but wouldn't have fit me. He had spiky dark brown hair and matching eyes. Behind him stood a girl who could have been slightly younger than him. She had pin-straight, jet-black hair and surprising green eyes. Her hair ended in jagged spikes, and it looked like she had never used a comb. Which, seeing the circumstances, she probably hadn't.

Ivy looked back and saw them. They motioned over.

"So _you're_ Max," the boy, braver, said to me. I nodded. I hoped Ivy hadn't made too big a legend out of me, because really I wasn't that amazing. Ivy looked over at them, then at me.

"This is Avery," she motioned to the dirty, scruffy little girl. She nodded, not saying much.

"And this is Chase," she said, obviously for the little boy. Chase, not knowing exactly what to do, saluted. I almost laughed, seeing how serious everyone in the pint-sized flock was.

"You guys look like you need a bath," I said. They all nodded gratefully. I looked over at Ivy. She was still wearing the outfit I had bought her: striped shirt, sweatpants, and Converses. It was scruffier now, and looked like it had been dragged along all the grime in Baltimore. Actually, it probably had.

"We're getting a hotel," I told the flock. Everyone cheered, especially Nudge. I smiled over at Ivy, who motioned to her troops. We started walking, fighting a strong, salty wind that had begun blowing.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry this chapter isn't as interesting. I'm scared this isn't living up to Gray Like Ivy's standards! Any suggestions? Just bear with me, and things will get more interesting as it goes on. Oh, and what about Chase/Ivy? Yes/no? Tell me in a review!**

Avery came out, wiping her still wet black hair on a towel. I smiled at her, but she looked at me suspiciously. She hadn't said a word to anyone outside of her flock. Who knew what that little girl had been through?

Chase had also taken a shower, and he ran his hand through his damp dark hair, spiking it up again. Ivy also cleaned up, and they all looked presentable. Ivy's flock had been pretty impressed with the hotel I had chosen. They were coming to know me as the cash dispenser.

Now that Ivy didn't have a layer of grime on her, I could see how much she had changed. Her face wasn't as round, and she looked like she had been in the sun a lot. Her skin was a little more tanned, and she had freckles. Last time I saw her, she was fresh out of her lab, after spending her life in a cage. I saw that her hair, finally combed, had loose curls. Before, it had all been a messy tangle.

Ivy hopped onto my bed. Chase was right behind her, but Avery hesitated. Ivy motioned to her, and she stepped closer. I chuckled.

"So you're the leader of your flock?" I asked Ivy. She nodded proudly.

"Chase is my second-in-command." Chase smiled. He smiled a lot, to the difference of Avery. She seemed shy and scared. Ivy used to smile more, but she was more serious now. She had assumed her leader's responsibilities.

"Do you have a home?" I asked Ivy. She nodded.

"It's in an abandoned parking lot. You can only get there if you have wings," she said. I hadn't really thought about wings. I knew Ivy had striped hawk wings, but we had actually walked to the hotel. I looked at the two other kids carefully.

"Do you guys have wings?" I asked. They nodded, and Chase snapped out a pair of brown wings. They had patches of lighter rusty-colored feathers, and white secondaries. Avery, taking on the cue, unfurled white wings speckled with black. They were just like a snowy owl's.

Avery folded hers back first, suddenly self-conscious. Chase followed.

"Do you?" Avery asked. I was surprised at her bravery. I grinned and snapped out my huge wings. Since I was so much bigger than them, my wings were twice the size of theirs. I smiled at the awed look on Chase's face. I closed them a little, but left them mostly out, just hanging. I was tired of having to hold them pressed to my back for so long.

I lay down on my bed, trying to relax after a long flight. Chase and Ivy were talking quietly, laughing once in a while. Angel had fallen asleep on Fang's lap, Gazzy was reading a comic book, and Fang and Iggy were absorbed in their respective electronics. Nudge crept up on me and sat on my bed. I turned to face her.

"Chase and Ivy totally like each other," she whispered, a smile on her face. I looked critically at the two. They were just _talking._

"They're five," I pointed out. Nudge was barely listening.

"I know! Aren't they so cute?" she squealed. I rolled my eyes and turned onto my stomach. Nudge sighed and went back to her bed and her magazine.

"Is it still far?" I shouted over the wind. I was following Ivy and Chase, who had taken the lead, showing us the way to their "house." I say it like that because at "it's in an abandoned parking lot," I was starting to think this wasn't really an acceptable living space.

And boy, was I right. I swooped down into a rotting building. It had levels and levels of empty floors, meant for cars, not kids. In a corner, there was a small area, all with white walls. It must have been meant for some kind of staircase, but was big enough to be like a hotel room. Ivy walked in a roughly cut door, and turned on a lamp that was in the dimly lit interior. It was strange, how she could have a lamp. There sure wasn't any electricity in there.

The flock went in after me, wondering what the hell this place was. Iggy was happy, glad to be able to see again against the white walls. The whole place was in the dark, and Angel moved closer to me. Ivy's flock didn't even seem fazed.

"How do you make the lamp work?" I asked, watching it flickering glow grow stronger. Ivy smiled widely.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I got a new power on my fifth birthday," she said. She put a finger to the wall and the whole place erupted in electricity.

The walls glowed blue, and lamps placed strategically around the "house" started to turn on. The whole place was illuminated, and everything made of metal was crackling. The lamps were surrounded by what looked like miniature lightning. The crackling blue glow died out.

"Whoa," Gazzy breathed. I couldn't speak.

"I can make lighting, control electricity, and electrocute things," Ivy said matter-of-factly. Chase raised his hand and she high-fived it. There was a small crackle.

"Ow, you shocked me," Chase muttered.

"Sorry," Ivy said, already moving around her home. I looked more closely at the walls and saw they had been drawn on. With some kind of charcoal, Ivy had drawn a northern scene. There were swirls of snow, and northern lights flashing at the top. Under was a team of dogs pulling a sled.

They looked like they were in motion, some of them with their tongues lolling out. One had tilted its head back to howl at the moon. The runners cut through thick snow as a man's hands tensed around the sled's top. He was grim-faced and determined, a furry hood hiding most of his head.

"The walls are beautiful," I told Ivy. She smiled at me.

"It's not finished," she answered. I noticed a blank wall where she had started to sketch a wolf, standing over the scene. She finally motioned everyone, to the two beds they had.

"I usually sleep on the floor," Ivy said, seeing how I was looking at the beds. She was such a good leader. I'd like to think she took after me.

"Your place is really nice," I said. "Do you want to stay here instead of the hotel?"

I was greeted by a big "NO!" from Iggy, Nudge, Chase, and Ivy. I sighed.

"I guess we're flying again," I said, defeated.

Nighttime. Finally. I stretched out of my cozy bed and walked over to the door. I was about to open it when I felt a shadow behind me.

"Where are you going?" Fang whispered. I rolled my eyes.

"To the moon. Flying, genius."

"Then I'll come with," he said. I shrugged and opened the door. I ran downstairs, feeling claustrophobic again. I really needed to just get out, and leave. Fang ran with me, no one in the abandoned lobby. I burst through the front doors, laughing now.

I unfurled my wings and shot up into the sky. I looked back for Fang, but he had already passed by me, and was in front of me. I concentrated and started flying with super-speed. I overshot and ended up too high, so I tucked my wings in and barreled towards Fang.

He moved out of the way at the last moment. I laughed at him, and he shot after me. I didn't dodge in time, so we ended up hurtling down together, screaming our heads off. He finally let go and I spread my wings out like a parachute then beat them fast to regain altitude. Breathing hard, I decided it was time to go back. I yawned widely, stretching in mid air.

"We need to go back," I said. Fang nodded, and I shot down. I went into the hotel room right through the window. Everyone was still sleeping. I walked quietly over to my bed, and dropped in, dead tired. I could finally sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry I took for ever to update! I really had no plot ideas. I also have no more plot ideas for Snippets. Ideas? Request it, I'll post it! **

I woke up, feeling great from a good night's sleep. And, obviously, the next emotion this bird girl felt was fear. It was the kind of fear you get from an instinct, from living with the flock. I _never_ had a good night's sleep. There was always a fashion emergency from Nudge, an explosion from Iggy or Gazzy, or breakfast cooking in the morning. And by "breakfast coking," I mean, "fight to the death for bacon."

Something was horribly wrong. I snapped my eyes open, and did a head count. Iggy on the ground, Fang a dark head on that bed, Angel with Celeste, Nudge on her bed, and Gazzy's legs sticking out from under Iggy's bed. The whole flock was there. I was about to fall asleep again, when I realized something. _Where's Ivy's flock?_

"Ivy!" I screeched, running up from my bed, the whole flock jumping up into sleepy battle stances. I checked the bathroom just in case, all the beds. No notes, no nothing. I went over to Ivy's bed and found a small, square piece of paper. It simply said "Itex" on the top.

Fang was right behind me. I blinked the tears out of my eyes.

"Everyone up, and pack your bags! We're getting them," I said. I turned to Fang and handed him the small paper he skimmed quickly. His dark eyes looked at me questioningly.

"Where do you think they are?" he asked.

"Pagoda?"

"Too easy. Any other leads?" he said. I thought back to Ivy's informational packet we had stolen from the Pagoda's lab.

"John Hopkins Hospital, where Ivy was born." Fang nodded. It was the perfect place, with tons of unwanted or stolen babies to work with, and an easy excuse for medical equipment and drugs. I stepped over to my bed and put my few belongings in my backpack. I was ready for another rescue mission.

! #$%^&*

Chase bent over Ivy. She was huddled in a corner, apparently unconscious. The two kids were alone in the rusty room. By the way it jolted and moved; Chase assumed it was the back of a truck. It was cold and hard, and the double doors in the back were locked. There was no escape.

Chase concentrated his efforts on reviving Ivy. What would he do without their flock leader? He was second-in-command, so he could inherit of her power. But the thought of her dying or being taken away was unbearable for Chase. If he didn't save her now, he'd blame himself forever.

"Wake up!" he whispered. When he screamed or was too loud, whoever was driving would move in a way that jostled the back and made him hit the nearest wall flying. His wings couldn't support him at all at those times, but still he had them hanging loosely out of the slits in his jacket. It was leather and Chase was proud of it. He'd gotten it from the back of a donation truck when no one was looking.

He shook Ivy again. She didn't stir. Chase was on the edge of desperation. What had he done to wake up in the back of a truck, the person he cared about the most with him and unconscious?

He tried listening to her breathing. He curled up next to Ivy, still on her side, and tried to listen for something. He'd seen it done, but wasn't sure how. He felt slight up and down movement on her chest. That was good, right?

He tried lifting her up. Her dead weight didn't struggle as he got her into a sitting position. He grabbed her arms and started to fly up. He propped her up into a standing position. He lowered a little, hoping she could support herself. Her knees buckled and her eyes fluttered.

Ivy shook her head slightly, and Chase set her down all the way so she was sitting. She felt around with her hands. Ivy opened her eyes.

Panic flooded them immediately, and the pretty gray was watered down by fear.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"In the back of a truck, kidnapped," Chase answered. Ivy's eyes widened.

"Why?" she asked almost rhetorically.

"You know why," he answered darkly.

They sat in silence. They both knew Avery wasn't there. None of them talked about it. Avery had told them their secret. She was the director's daughter.

! #$%^&*

My trusty map of Baltimore in hand, I led the flock over to Johns Hopkins Hospital. I flapped my wings with Fang's, both of us careful to keep a rhythm and not hit each other.

I bet worry showed all over my face. Let me tell you something, I really didn't care. There was none of the usual noise, no one was fighting or arguing. I moved the tip of my wings lower, and swerved away from the group. It's in these moments that I understand Fang and his need for alone time.

There were still more highways and parks we needed to fly over. I was scared we wouldn't make it in time. But what really scared me was what I couldn't even think to myself. _In time for what?_

! #$%^&*

Ivy turned around, not wanting to show her weakness. She was the leader, and if Max had taught her anything, it's that the leader has to be strong. The leader can never cry. Thinking of Max made Ivy ache even more.

She didn't want Chase to see how scared she was, and how she was on the verge of tears. This time, there really would be no escape. They'd experiment on her, and make her draw. Then, maybe if she'd been good, they'd give her pellets for dinner. If not, she'd go hungry that night.

This was her worst fear. Returning to the lab. She let out a sniffle, hoping Chase hadn't heard. He just came closer and gave her a hug. They stayed like that for a while, both scared and confused, but glad they had each other.

**A/N: Got the plot moving! Gray Like Ivy fans, hopefully this will be even better. Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

We landed in front of the hospital. It was already late afternoon. The parking lot had a few white vans, like the ones for ambulances. Everything seemed normal. Another white medical van pulled up to the hospital. Official-looking people led two gurneys, covered with white cloths, out of the back of the van. I winced; imagining the state those two people must be in to be covered from sight.

Everything seemed painfully normal. The actual hospital was pretty weird: it looked like a red medieval castle. It was entirely made of bricks and had a dome. A delightful little garden greeted them front. We were in the back with the medical emergencies.

"Well, let's go in," I said, watching the two gurneys disappear through an "Emergencies" door. I decided to just go in the front door. There was a desk and a secretary. Time to lie. I molded my face into a concerned expression.

"Hello. May I help you?" the secretary asked coolly. I nodded almost tearfully.

"My siblings and I would like to visit our parents. They're in intensive care, they had a car crash." The secretary looked us over. I desperately hoped we were convincing.

"Who are you staying with then?" she asked.

"Our uncle and aunt." I answered. I frowned some more, like I was on the verge of tears. "We really want to see them."

"Visiting hours are over," she said. Crap. "But you can come tomorrow," she added kindly. I nodded.

"When is the earliest I can come?" I asked.

"Ten a.m. I'll see you then," she added with a small smile. I smiled back and led the flock out again. If I weren't a bird kid, I'd be on Broadway.

Well, now we needed a place to sleep. And I swore I'd be back tomorrow.

! #$%^&*

The truck stopped. Ivy emitted a small shriek then stifled it, not wanting to show her fear. She disentangled herself from Chase. She could hear voices outside. The door opened with a loud creak. She could see the outside of the doors were white, and had words and lights on them.

They were probably in a medical van, she reasoned. A man dressed all in white opened the door. Ivy shivered. She huddled into a corner with Chase while the man stepped in. He pulled out two gurneys she hadn't noticed from the back of the truck.

He unfolded them and walked over to where they were. The two bird kids kicked him, and Ivy managed a weak punch, but the whitecoat put a tissue on her face. It smelled like a lab; and Ivy was out instantly.

Chase was even angrier. He tried fighting and biting the man's hand, but the tissue knocked him out too. The whitecoat smiled. They were two tough little creatures. He remarked with satisfaction the wings sticking out from the male's jacket.

He picked the female up and set her on one gurney. He covered her with a white cloth they'd given him. He picked up the male and covered him on the gurney too.

He wheeled them both out, unaware that the jolting from the female's hand had let her regain movement there. In one last desperate effort, she reached out, trying to grab onto something. She latched onto the male's hand before passing out completely.

**A/N: Aren't you frustrated the flock just missed them and could totally have rescued them? And where is Avery? FIND OUT... soonish. By that I mean review until I get inspiration.**

**Fly on!**

**~greysky3**


	5. Chapter 5

Ivy woke up in a small room. It was white, tiled, and meticulously clean. Fear overwhelmed her. She was in a hospital bed, wearing a pale blue hospital gown tied in the back by small strings.

"Chase?" she asked, fear creeping into her voice. There was no answer.

"Chase!" she said, louder, her voice strained. There was no answer. She sat up dizzily and looked around. She shivered; there was too much air conditioning for her frail gown. There was another white bed, this time empty. The sheets were crumpled. Chase was nowhere to be seen.

! #$%^&*

Chase was out of breath. How long had he been running? It must have been at least an hour. He was sure he couldn't run through another maze. They gave him a glass, like they did every time he finished a maze. This time, instead of water, he smelled apple juice. Chase hoped that was a good sign.

They'd never done this at the Pagoda lab. They'd just give him injections and make him read, memorize things, or learn survival instincts. One day, they'd put him into a sort of wilderness room with matches and a knife. He was supposed to come back alive in a week.

Chase shivered and downed the juice, trying to drown out the bad memory. He still had scars on his leg. Why would they purposefully lure him into a piranha tank, when the point was for him to survive?

A man wrote something on a clipboard, and came over to him. He started ripping off the colorful suction cups they had placed on his chest and back. When he was done, the man led him out of the maze room.

They weaved through complicated hallways. Chase was wondering how Ivy was. Were they hurting her too? This place was a living nightmare. He only hoped he could get out quickly.

They opened a white door and shoved him in. Ivy was on her bed, sobbing. She looked up, trying hastily to wipe her face. Chase was alarmed.

"Are you okay? What did they do to you?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said her voice thick with repressed tears. "I saw you weren't there and I thought…I thought…" she couldn't even finish her sentence.

There was a long silence. They were both wondering how they could get out of this one.

Another whitecoat, a woman, opened the door. "Subject AKW-3?" she called into the room.

"There's Ivy and Chase in here. No subject whatever," Ivy said stubbornly, recovering a little. The whitecoat obviously didn't know how to react to that one. She looked at her clipboard.

"Are you the female recombinant avian DNA experiment?" she asked.

"My name is Ivy," the little girl answered. The whitecoat scribbled something on her paper, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, _Ivy_, you need to come in for testing," she said, tired of arguing. Ivy shot the whitecoat a look.

"And that's Chase," she added, following the woman out, knowing it's useless to resist.

! #$%^&*

Ivy came back that night with her arm sore. The sickly sweet taste of apple juice stuck in her throat. She'd drawn faces all day. Her right hand was tired, and her left arm had a row of red dots from needles.

She rubbed the punctures while sitting on her bed. Chase looked at her questioningly.

"They made me draw," she said.

"They made me run through mazes," he answered. There was a moment of silence. Bored, Ivy put a finger on the metal leg of her bed. A sizzling sound filled the air, and the bed frame glowed blue.

There was a crackling sound. There was an intercom? Both bird kids bolted upright.

"Subject AKW-3, AKA Ivy, has developed a new power. Subject Ivy, since when have you had this power?"

Both giggled when they called her Subject Ivy. Ivy decided to act like she'd learned from Max: snarky and arrogant.

"Ever since I saw your ugly face," she answered.

The voice, a woman, continued. "Answer or we will take it out on you and Subject Chase."

"A month ago," Ivy mumbled.

"On your self-appointed birthday?" the voice asked.

"Yeah." There was another crackle, and the voice fell silent. Ivy looked over at Chase.

"Why do they even care?" she asked him. He shrugged, leaving them both with nothing better to do than fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Fear overwhelmed Ivy. She guessed the whitecoats were off to a good start.

"We're going to test your fears," a whitecoat had just told them. Both bird kids froze, but there was no escape. Two strong men, dressed in white, gripped their arms. They were being marched out of their cold, white room.

Ivy shivered in her hospital gown. Chase was lucky, he'd gotten and shirt and pants to match the hospital theme. But they weren't much warmer than what she was wearing. She stumbled along, barefoot on the cold tiled floor.

A few halls later, there was a window. Ivy saw sunshine. It was already the next day. She was trying to look out to see where she was, and felt a sharp tug on her arm. They were jerked violently into a room. They tumbled in, while the two men and the whitecoat were left outside. The door swung shut and the intercom crackled.

"This room was designed for us to hear and see all. We can test your levels of adrenaline, and how well your decision-making process is affected. We can also measure your stress levels. Each test lasts three minutes. Test 1 will begin now."

There was another crackle and the voice fell silent. They were in a large, windowless room. It was white, but not tiled like the other rooms. Ivy was looking around when a fireball whizzed past her head. She screamed.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" she shrieked. Another one whizzed past, this time narrowly missing Chase. Small openings were being created in the walls, and fireballs were being shot out of them. Fire whizzed past Ivy's head as she turned, singing a couple of inches of brown hair off.

Chase was looking around, livid. Another fiery ball shot at him, followed by two others. He hopped around, trying to avoid the burn. Ivy got pelted by five fireballs, which followed her as she ran, missing her only slightly every time. The edges of her hospital gown were singed.

She was breathing heavily as another row of fireballs pelted after Chase. Another one was headed for Ivy's face, when she suddenly ducked. There were no more fireballs. Both bird kids tensed, moving in circles, waiting for another attack. There was none.

"Three minutes are over. Test 2 will begin shortly," said the voice on the intercom. Ivy was breathing heavily, dreading the next test. Chase was clenching and unclenching his fists nervously.

There was a slight noise that sounded like gears turning. To Ivy's horror, the room started shrinking. It had always _felt_ the like room was shrinking when it was small, but she was actually witnessing it happening.

The walls were being pushed in, towards the center of the room. Slowly, they progressed, shrinking the size of the place. The previously large room was only average sized. It kept its square proportions, but kept steadily shrinking. Ivy yelped.

"We'll be crushed!" she said. Chase shook his head.

"They don't want to kill us, only test on us," he tried reasoning with her. He didn't know one important thing: never reason with a claustrophobe during a panic attack.

She was shaking violently now, her eyes wild.

"We need to get out," she said unsteadily, all reason abandoning her.

"No, we'll be fine. It's not painful or anything," Chase said. He made his biggest mistake yet.

"DON'T YOU GET IT? I NEED TO LEAVE!" she hissed, slamming Chase into the wall. The room was now the size of an average kitchen. She felt the wall pushing her into the center of the room and whimpered, letting go of him.

It was now the size of a queen-sized bed. Ivy huddled onto the floor, whimpering steadily. Chase had no idea this was her biggest fear. The room shrank into the size of their hospital bed. Chase and Ivy were sitting closely together, in the middle of the room.

The walls kept advancing until they were pressed together. The walls touched them, and stopped. Ivy broke. She started crying frantically, trying to punch and kick the unyielding walls.

It wasn't even big enough for her to move more than her arms. She started to scream bloody murder.

"GET US OUT! GET US OUT! I'LL DO ANYTHING! MAKE IT STOP!" she shouted, broken to her core. The walls were still pressed to her. After a while, she just sat, sobbing quietly, her arms clenched around her head.

Chase tried to soothe her, to tell her it would all work out. He'd never seen the fearless leader like this before. It made the situation all the more terrifying. Ivy wouldn't respond to anything. She lay there, shaking, adding to the fear in the small space.

"Three minutes. Your stress levels skyrocketed, Subject Ivy," the voice mocked. Chase felt the walls recede. The room was quickly as big as it was at the beginning. Ivy was still scrunched up on the floor, unresponsive. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her arms clenched over her head.

"You'll get a five-minute break before Test 3," the voice added, this time slightly unsure. Ivy still didn't respond. Chase got closer to her slowly.

"Hey," he said softly. Ivy trembled slightly. Slowly, she unclenched, crouching shakily. He helped her up. Her eyes were still those of a hunted rabbit and she was deathly pale.

"You're claustrophobic," he said. She nodded slightly, not quite steady. "I didn't know."

"Sorry I pushed you," Ivy said.

"Don't worry about it," Chase waved her off. She managed a small smile. Maybe she would survive.

"Max…" she started.

"I'm sure," he answered. Neither one wanted to say anything under surveillance. They nodded, and Ivy tried to wipe at the tears on her face.

"Five minutes," the voice said. "Test 3 will now begin." Both of them screamed, backing into a corner of the room, when thirty-odd large snakes came out of a hatch that had opened on the opposite side of the room.

! #$%^&*

I smiled sweetly at the secretary at the front desk. It was ten a.m., exactly. She'd made us wait until the exact minute. We'd arrived at 9:58, and she'd shown us the seconds on a watch. She didn't let us in until the seconds said 10:00 _exactly._

"Now, can we visit our parents?" I asked.

"What floor?"

"Um, intensive care?" I asked. I hadn't planned that one.

"Floor seven," she told us. I thanked her with another fake smile and walked over to the elevator. I pressed the button and the flock piled in.

I surveyed the buttons. Floor seven was intensive care, of course. Fang pointed to floor nine, the top floor: it said restricted access. Really, they make it too easy.

I jammed my finger onto the "floor nine" button. We rode up silently and were faced with an empty hallway and a single locked door. Great.

"Iggy, will you do the honors?" I asked him. He nodded and I guided his hand over to the lock. Nudge can do it, but I let Iggy do the fun part sometimes.

Three paperclips and two bobby pins later, we were in. It was a key card access door, but there was an emergency keyhole. The halls were empty. I led the flock in.

I heard footsteps. I ushered everyone into an empty room in time for a whitecoat to pass. It was an impeccably dressed blond woman. As soon as she was out of sight, we walked along the hallway. We were about to go explore other hallways when I heard a scream.

"It came from here!" I hissed, running along a hallway that went to the right. I heard another scream and took a turn to the left through another hallway. The screams were coming from behind a white door marked "Test Room."

I pulled Nudge over to the door, and she concentrated on the lock. She turned the knob and it opened. I was greeted by snakes. There were snakes all over the room. I also saw two bird kids in a corner.

"Chase! Ivy!" I yelled. They turned and I saw relief in their eyes. Forgetting the snakes, they ran towards the open door like there was no tomorrow. They burst out into the hallway and I closed the door. They must have gone through hell and back. Their faces were streaked with tears.

"Come on!" I said, sprinting to where I remembered the exit to be. The flock followed, weaving through hallways. I jerked to a stop when I saw who were blocking my way: ten Erasers, Avery, and a man with bright green eyes and combed wavy black hair who looked just like her.

"The Director," Chase breathed. To my horror, Avery turned and smiled up at the man.

"Here they are, Daddy."

**A/N: Half the claustrophobes died during that middle part. It was difficult to write as I kept imagining it and hyperventilating. Thanks for reviewing, but don't stop now! REVIEW (AGAIN) PLEASE!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Whoa! Thanks for all the feedback! I really suggest reading Gray Like Ivy before this, for anyone who stumbles on this. Review hog time: If you liked Gray Like Ivy, why not review? It really inspires me, and it's the only I get out of the deal. Think about it, I write every day, put a lot of effort into it, and don't get anything in return, other than feedback. But the feedback makes it totally worth it, so do your part please! THANK YOU!**

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"What?" I asked, too stunned to move. Avery smiled at me.

"This is Max," she told the man, apparently the Director. He was dressed in a gray silk suit that looked like it had cost a fortune. He smiled dazzlingly at me and extended his hand for me to shake it.

When I didn't move, he dropped his hand with a little cough.

"Well, it seems there's been an awful misunderstanding. I think we could be helpful to each other. We could make your every dream come true, Max. You'd be swimming in riches."

The Director chuckled a little, and I liked him less every second.

"What do you say, Max? Will you help me get you your dreams?"

"What do I have to do in return for these _dreams_?" I asked.

"Oh, a few missions here and there, taking out a few of our enemies," he said, waving my question away. _No way,_ I thought. _We won't ever be his hitmen. _I smiled back nastily.

"I'm sorry, but we don't take hiring offers. We're on our own. And right now, my _dream_ would be to be far, far away from you."

His eyes narrowed. He was about to lunge at me.

"Let's go!" I shouted. The Director pulled out a remote control from his expensive suit and pressed a button. Chase and Ivy jerked a little and crumpled to the ground. I noticed they had electronic bracelets around their ankles.

My eyes blazed with fury.

"What did you _do_ to them?" I screamed. The Director kept his cool, his green eyes smiling.

"Oh, nothing. They'll wake up in an hour."

"Iggy! Fang!" I said. They shot forward and each grabbed an unconscious bird kid. I looked hatefully into the Director's eyes.

"On three," I said. Of, course, that meant _on one. _"One!" I shouted, and all hell broke loose.

I charged forward and decked an Eraser in the eye. The Director scurried off into a hallway with his precious _daughter_ so they wouldn't get their hands dirty. The Eraser fell and I stomped on his snout, leaving him knocked out.

The hallways were filled with the sounds of screaming and fighting. The two unconscious bird kids sort of weighed down Fang and Iggy, but they still kicked Eraser butt.

I heard an encouraging crack as Nudge screamed "JOBROS!" or something. She has…interesting battle cries. The Eraser I was pummeling finally fell, and I crunched over his nose. Iggy tumbled forward into the hallway. He handed me Ivy and I hoisted her up on my shoulders. Just as the Director had said, she was still out.

We barged out of the hallways, unconscious and dead Erasers lying behind us. I counted Nudge, Angel, Gazzy, Iggy, and Fang with Chase. Still carrying Ivy, I led them into the hallway I thought led to the way out. We were almost there when I stopped abruptly. I stayed frozen, openmouthed at the sight of them.

"What?" Iggy asked. I didn't answer, looking into their eyes.

"WHAT?" he yelled.

"It's…them…" Nudge said. I looked at their blank faces.

"What do you mean, them?" Iggy asked, frustrated.

"It's all the mutants from the Pagoda. I think they're brainwashed," Angel said.

I looked into their faces. Were they clones or the real deal? They all had matching pale green eyes, which is strange. They filled the hallway, at least fifty of them, arranged neatly in rows. They were all four to nine years old and most of them had wings. There were also some with scales, extra limbs, and fur. They didn't seem to see us.

I tried taking a step forward.

"Hello?" I said. A little winged boy, maybe seven, came forward. His blank eyes stared ahead, seemingly past my body.

"You must come in for testing," he said, emotionless.

"No," answered. He smiled strangely.

"Die, then." I tried to open my mouth but there was this hissing sound and a sickly sweet smell that made me dizzy. The last thing I knew of was falling to the ground, trying to move Ivy so I wouldn't hit her on the way down.

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**A/N: Press that button! Do it! REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up in a large, white tiled room. I was in a matching white hospital bed, in a pale blue hospital gown. _Oh, joy_.

I opened my eyes and saw Fang on the bed opposite me. His dark eyes were surveying me. He was between Nudge and Gazzy. I tried moving and found I wasn't strapped to the bed. _That's one good thing, at least. _

"Report," I coughed out.

"Yup," Angel said.

"Here," Iggy called out.

"I'm fine," Ivy's voice drifted from the other side of the room. I turned my stiff neck and saw her, on a bed that was near Chase's. The younger bird kids were a little separated from the rest of us.

"Okay. Okay," I said, half to myself. I needed to figure this out, get us out of this mess like I always did. Because I was the leader. I shot Fang a pained look and he just shrugged in response.

This was really hopeless. I flopped back onto my bed when I heard a noise. It was a key turning in a lock. The door opened and a young woman with frizzy dark brown hair spoke out timidly.

"Subject Chase and Subject Ivy?" she asked. _Them again?_ Ivy got up uncertainly. Chase was right after her, bounding off his bed. With one last look at us, they disappeared out the door.

! #$%^&*

What would they do now? Ivy already knew the answer, but she could still hope. She missed drawing. Compared to the fear experiments, anything was better. _Fear experiments._ The name she had given these tests echoed around her mind.

They led her into the same white room and locked the door after her. The dreaded intercom crackled again.

"Well, hello, Subjects. We will now proceed with Test 4, to begin shortly." After a small chuckle, the intercom disconnected.

There was another sound of gears, and already, Ivy was beginning to shake. Chase was scared she'd have another meltdown. The room got smaller quickly, until every wall of the square room was fifteen feet long. It stopped abruptly.

Slowly, Ivy opened the eyes she had squeezed shut. For a few seconds, there was nothing. Finally, a hatch opened in a corner. They stared at it. A small, steady current of water started to flow out of it. It started shooting out with more strength, and more hatches appeared, all of them shooting out streams of water that got bigger and bigger.

They understood the trap. The ceiling had been also lowered, and the room was beginning to fill up. Their bare feet were already covered in freezing water. A large faucet appeared, unfolding from the wall, and started to dump water even faster.

"Can you swim?" Ivy asked Chase, watching the water rise quickly, covering her calves. Chase nodded. Luckily, they could both swim. The water rose up. Getting faster every second, it was now covering Ivy's knees and right below Chase's. The room got even smaller, making the water rise up until their waists.

"I'm cold." Ivy shivered. The water was freezing, and up to her waist. She shot a terrified look at Chase who was also trying to do his best and be brave. Another faucet appeared, making the sound of pouring water almost deafening. It was up to both their chests now, and it hadn't been more than two minutes. Ivy didn't know how much of this she could stand.

"Oh, and this time, the tests will last seven minutes," the intercom added.

They exchanged a look of pure terror. There were still five minutes left. Since Chase was a little taller than Ivy, the water was just under his neck, when Ivy's whole shoulders were covered. She shivered as he water started to rise of to her chin.

When her chin was under water, Ivy started floating up, trying to move her arms in rhythm to stay floating. She assumed she could float until the test was over, until she felt something hard on the top of her head. She was touching the ceiling.

"I'm gonna drown," she told Chase anxiously.

"No," he reminded her. "Remember last time? They only want to test on us."

"What if we die in the process? They have plenty of other mutants." Chase didn't have an answer for that one. He fond her cold hand underwater and she clung onto it like it was preserving her life.

The water was right under Ivy's nose. She inhaled once and it covered her completely. She squeezed Chase's hand tightly as she held her breath. She opened her eyes a little and saw his blurry face. She was choking, her lungs felt like they were crumpling. She coughed and let out the air she was holding in. She gasped and choked as Chase watched, trying to scream underwater.

Ivy let go of Chase's hand. He watched her cough and flail underwater. She couldn't drown! He watched in horror as he felt himself freeze. He shook underwater, letting the air escape him, feeling the electricity coursing through him. The air crackled as the whole underwater room lit up. What Chase was feeling was nothing compared to Ivy, surrounded in a blue lightning bolt she had created herself.

The room opened up and drained, letting the two limp subjects fall to the ground, both soaked and unmoving. Dr. Hinters wrote all this down, pushing a strand of messy light brown hair behind her ear. She watched the screens and her husband watched her as she jotted down her conclusions.

_When faced with near-death experiences, Subject Ivy displays a survival sequence. She dispels at least 200 million volts, with 18 milliampères, just under the 20 milliampères needed to be lethal. _She paused, putting back her pen. Her daughter really was interesting to observe.

! #$%^&*

I was doing nothing when the door swung open. I jumped off of the bed to go see Ivy and Chase. Ivy was staggering, leaning on Chase to stay upright. They were both soaked and smelled like they had been hit by lightning. I picked Ivy up and set her down on the nearest bed, Chase's.

I pulled back wet hair from her face.

"What happened?" I asked her. She just gurgled and let herself fall onto the bed. I turned to Chase.

"They were testing our fears and they tried to drown us. Ivy was drowning and she made lightning. In the water. So we got electrocuted," he finished. He looked up at me again. "Will she be okay? I tried to save her, really."

"She'll be fine," I muttered. I was so angry I could just punch a wall. _Why not?_ I could at least damage some of the hidden equipment. I drew my fist back and punched the wall hard. Nothing happened, there was only this hollow noise. I punched again, followed my other hand, until I was steadily beating up the wall. I was barely aware of blood and pain, but I kept going.

I vented out all my anger, and with every punch it hurt more, and that made me even angrier. I drew back even harder and punched the wall the hardest yet. My fist made a cracking sound. I sucked in a breath and tried to hit the wall again, when someone held back my arm.

I turned around wildly to see Fang.

"Don't hurt yourself," he said. I was about to break and lash out at him too.

"I'm tired of this! I'm tired of them hurting me and Ivy and everyone else, I'm tired of running and getting caught, why do they always win—"

He cut me off by pressing his mouth to mine. I didn't even try to talk or resist, I just closed my eyes. We hadn't really mentioned our relationship, or lack thereof, in a long time. I'd just been too caught up with Ivy and the flock.

He pulled away, and when I opened my eyes, he was there.

"I'm here for you. Don't forget that," he whispered then disappeared to his bed like only he can. I walked back to my bed like a zombie, still dazed. All eyes were trained on me, and I realized the flock must have been watching.

Great. I scarred five-year-olds. I am _such_ a good mother. I flopped onto my bed and lay there. Before, the humming, quiet chatter, and bored tapping filled the silence.

Slowly, noise started up again. Angel kept talking to Total about everything, maybe her life's story. Iggy tapped in irregular beat on the wall to have something to hear. Nudge started humming a song; Gazzy imitated random people he'd heard. Softly, boredom continued.

I was acutely aware of Fang's silence. I was left with weird feelings I labeled under "Fang" in my mind that scrambled everything even more. Listening harder, I heard small noises, almost like whimpers, then coughing.

I shot up and ran towards Ivy as she coughed up some water and fluttered her eyes open. I held her in a sitting position. She opened her eyes.

"What?" was the first thing she said. I didn't blame the kid.

"You made lightning," I said. Her eyes opened wide.

"In the water?" she asked. I nodded.

"When I got my powers, I stole a book on electricity, to learn how to use it. I could have died," she said, realizing the gravity of the situation. I nodded, not wanting to hide the truth.

There was knocking at the door and I prepared to use whoever would come in as a punching bag. The door swung open to reveal a woman, a whitecoat. She had messy, wavy light brown hair in a loose bun and hazel eyes.

"I'm Dr. Hinters, and I need to document Subject Ivy's electric powers." I was about to be horribly nasty when I saw Ivy's eyes go wide and fill with tears. She had the face of an abandoned puppy, one to rival Nudge's Bambi eyes.

When she did speak, it was barely a whisper. "Mommy?"

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**A/N: Review if the cliffy makes you want to read more! Review if you hated it! Review no matter what's going through your head right now!**

**Fly on!**

**~greysky3**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Keep reviewing, guys! (Even you, Strawberry Tall Cake.)**

**Well. Another chapter. The fear experiments really are scary, huh?**

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I froze. Ivy still believed her mother loved her. We all knew the truth. Both her parents were whitecoats. They only wanted her to be an experiment. Dr. Hinters was pretty, I realized. Her face was heart-shaped, not unlike Ivy's. Her hazel eyes sparkled when she talked.

"Mommy, take me away from here," Ivy said, her small voice ringing across the now dead-silent room.

"Why, Adelyn?" she said.

"I'm Ivy now," she told her. "And they're hurting me."

"You sometimes have to make sacrifices for the greater good. You're helping science, and you're doing the right thing," Dr. Hinters waved her off.

"I don't want to do the right thing. I want to go home," Ivy said sadly. "Take me home, Mommy, _please!_" she pleaded.

"Don't be silly, _Ivy_, you need to stay. For the good of science," Dr. Hinters ignored her daughter.

"When did you develop this power?" the doctor asked.

"In January," Ivy answered glumly.

"Demonstrate," Dr. Hinters commanded. Ivy, not moving from her bed, reached down to touch the metal leg of her bed. There was a crackle and it glowed blue, showering sparks. She took her finger off and it stopped.

Dr. Hinters nodded, writing things down on her clipboard. The door opened again, and this time a man walked in. He was a whitecoat. He peered over Dr. Hinter's shoulders.

He looked over at us like he was seeing us for the first time. He smiled pleasantly.

"Hello. I'm Dr. Jameson. This is my wife, Dr. Hinters," he said pleasantly.

"Daddy?" Ivy asked incredulously. The man smiled. He had dark, wavy hair and gray eyes. Other than his eyes, he looked nothing like Ivy.

Both doctors turned to go, clipboards in hand.

"_Please_ let me leave," Ivy begged.

"I already said no," Dr. Hinters said before she closed the door. Ivy's eyes were glistening with tears.

"Who are my parents?" Chase wondered out loud.

"Maybe you don't want to know," Ivy said bitterly, turning away from us.

! #$%^&*

"Test 5 will soon begin," the intercom's voice said. Ivy glanced nervously at Chase. He looked at her and nodded. They would face whatever nightmare they threw at them.

There was a small creak. Suddenly, a square of flooring fell. Ivy got closer to see what was underneath and a spurt of lava squirted out, narrowly missing her face. It burned of the end of a strand of her hair. There was _lava _underneath the floor.

Another square, this time in a corner, popped out. Chase backed away into a wall, and Ivy followed, a few steps away from him. _Pop! Pop! Pop!_ Three more squares fell, making the hole in the middle bigger.

The room was small this time, as small as with the water test. _Pop!_ A square of flooring fell between the two. They hopped over to the other side, a trail of popping sounds following them, marking where they'd walked by squares of empty flooring. The lava sizzled and crackled below.

In a large noise, the whole half of the room the pair wasn't on fell through. They watched, mesmerized, as the lava spat and fizzed. The bright, oozing liquid reflected off of their eyes.

Both corners fell, confining them to a small strip of floor. It held firm, not bending under their weight. Another long strip fell off, making the division between floor and lava closer to them. More tiles fell off on each end of their small strip, forcing them closer together.

Ivy jumped back just as she felt the tile she was standing on fall. She was now separated from Chase, and more tiles fell, leaving them both on their own little islands. It was barely big enough to take a small step forward. More tiles fell until they were both each standing on one tile. The heat coming from the lava was almost unbearable. She screamed as her last tile fell.

! #$%^&*

Still breathing heavily, Ivy turned to Chase.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah. How do you think all the tiles reappeared so quickly? We didn't even get burnt."

"Maybe it was an illusion," Ivy suggested.

"It was a pretty good one," Chase said. "I can still feel the heat," he muttered.

"Test 6 will begin shortly," the intercom announced. They exchanged a glance.

A door opened in a side of the room. A dozen mutants appeared before they could try to escape. The door closed. Half of them were identical copies of Ivy, half of them were clones of Chase. "Hi Chase," all the Ivy's said together.

"Hey Ivy," the Chase's answered in a perfect imitation of his voice. They turned to the original pair.

"We must destroy you," all the mutants said in unison.

"No," Ivy said. She moved closer to Chase. They just had time to catch sight of their matching evil grins when the lights went out. Ivy yelped a little then tried to find Chase. He was still right next to her.

He grabbed her hand.

"Don't let go, so you know it's me!" he told her. She squeezed his hand, listening for the scurrying noises in the room. She felt Chase's voice whisper, "Over here!"

"Squeeze my hand if that was you!" she said.

"It's me!"

"No!" Ivy felt nothing on the hand still gripping Chase's so she pushed away something to her left. She felt someone tear at her and push her, but Ivy punched the mutant.

She felt a Chase clone jump onto her and latch on, trying to tear her away from the real Chase. She held on harder, but Chase was fighting off other clones. The Chase clone she was trying to push off yanked her away from Chase and flung her across the room. She landed painfully, dazed for a moment, sounds of fighting coming from everywhere.

"Chase?" she called out, still badly hurt, unable to stand up.

"Yes?" at least seven voices answered. Ivy let out a sob and tried feeling around blindly, too scared to fight and hurt the real Chase.

"It's me!" a Chase voice whispered.

"No, it's me!" a voice to her side said. More murmurs from farther away confused her more.

"How did we meet?" Ivy asked, calling out to the whole room.

"In the dumpster," the voice to her side said.

"And?" Ivy asked, still not convinced.

"You said I could be in your flock but you were already leader. I told you that you were pretty and… and…" the voice to Ivy's left trailed off.

"And what?" she demanded.

"You told me to shut up," Chase said with certain amusement. She stumbled desperately to where the voice was coming from and hugged him, glad to have found the real Chase. She gripped him tightly for a while until all sounds ceased, trying to ignore her pain from being thrown across the room.

The lights turned back on and there was only one Ivy and one Chase in the room. "Test 6 is over. Testing is finished for today," the woman on the intercom announced.

The door opened and two whitecoats were there to escort them. They walked through hallways and back to their big, tiled room. Chase and Ivy were pushed into it.

! #$%^&*

Ivy and Chase tumbled into the room. I looked up, bored. They'd really been the only ones doing the testing, while the flock was left inside this damn white room to die of boredom. I'd gotten tired of having Nudge request songs and have Gazzy sing them perfectly, the same as the actual singer. I was really sick of Iggy's sourness like a permanent bad mood.

They both fell to their beds, exhausted.

"How was your day, kids?" I asked with false enthusiasm.

"Falling floor and lava," Ivy said, not bothering to look at me while talking.

"Evil clones in the dark," Chase added. I sighed. I was starting to lose my mind, after doing nothing for three whole days.

Luckily, something more happened to break the monotony. The door opened and in came nine trays of food carried by Erasers. I hadn't had anything to eat since I'd been in the Johns Hopkins Hospital. I got mine and it seemed like the best thing in the world: rice, chicken, a sandwich, an apple and water. Total even got a tray. We started eating happily as the Erasers left.

I smiled over at Fang. He caught it and smiled back, brightening the room. Maybe it was a miracle. Maybe it was because of the food. There was a small part of me that hoped he was smiling because of me.

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**A/N: Fax. Is. My. Life. (Sorry)**

**REVIEW! DO IT!**

**Fly on!**

**~greyksy3**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So sorry that this took so long to write! I'm starting another story, Stranded, and feeling generally unmotivated...**

**Hope you enjoy this, and if not, go check out my other story, Snippets. If not, you can click on "greysky3" at the top of the page, and you'll find a convenient little list of my other stories!**

**End rant. Read on! **

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The door opened the next morning to reveal the two whitecoats that called themselves Ivy's parents. I knew seeing them would only be torture for her. Ivy's face turned hard, seeing Dr. Hinters step in. Dr. Jameson followed.

"Hello, Subjects. We're going to test all of you as a group today. Follow me, please." How nice of her to say _please_ to the prisoners. We got up groggily anyway. Gazzy yawned and stretched, Angel brought Total along who said he'd defend us. As if.

We wove through hallways and hallways, and even with my super-human sense of direction, I was soon lost. They led us to the same door I'd sort of rescued Ivy and Chase from. They opened they door and the room was white and plain. I saw Ivy start to shake and Chase was whipping his head around nervously.

I'd heard their horror stories about this room. Whatever it would be, I'd survive it, both flocks included. There was a sound of gears turning and Ivy freaked.

"No, no, no," she said to herself. I noticed the room was actually getting bigger, fast, and it was soon the size of a football field. I felt small in the middle of this impossibly big room.

When Ivy saw it was bigger, not smaller, she let out her breath in a _whoosh._ There was a crackling sound I'd come to know as the intercom. Guess the whitecoats were too scared to talk to us in person.

As I watched, plants started to appear. Were they real? They appeared like they were holograms, but when I touched one it felt as solid as a real plant. Tall trees with thick branches appeared, covered in vines. The ground spurted moss, and tropical plants were populating the ground.

"HERE! EVERYONE!" I shouted at the flock that had dispersed a little, weaving their way through the trees. They all ran back. I counted my flock, Total, and two little bird kids.

The jungle was thick now, and I couldn't see anything past the thick growth of trees and shrubs. The air was thick and heavy with moisture, and the chirping of exotic birds filled the place.

"The final test is to begin shortly," the voice on the intercom announced. I braced myself, waiting for the worst. There was a sharp whooshing sound and I barely had time to throw myself to the ground.

Darts had just flow past us and impaled themselves on trees behind us. Everyone had gotten down except Chase, who was holding his arm. Blood oozed from where a small dart had buried into his arm. I rushed over; ready to pull it out, but to my surprise it yanked itself out.

I opened my mouth in surprise. Chase was as bewildered as me.

"I think I did it," he said. I watched as the dart moved around in the air like it was flying. Chase's face lit up into a grin through the obvious pain. "I can move things with my mind!"

"It's called telekinesis, genius." Total rolled his eyes.

I managed a small smile, and a glare for Total, before I felt the mossy floor under me suddenly become soft. My sneakers squished, and looking down I saw that I was standing in sand. I started to lose footing and I realized it was _quicksand._ Chase, who was next to me, and Ivy, who had come closer to see; were also in the small pit of sand.

"Uh-oh," Ivy said quietly. Massive understatement. I tried lifting a foot, but there was only a squishing sound as I sunk deeper.

"Someone get a branch," I said, as calmly as I could. Fang was the first to react, breaking a hefty branch off of a nearby tropical tree. He handed it over to me.

"No, not me. Them first," I said. He looked at me as if to say_, are you sure? Once you're out you could help. _I shook my head, motioning over to the two terrified little kids. _They have more to live for. _

A sad glint in Fang's eye showed he'd understood my grim thoughts. He moved over to Chase and Ivy. "Who's first?" I asked.

"She can go," Chase said. What a little gentleman. Fang handed Ivy the thick branch and she held on. Luckily, they were only knee-deep. Since I was heavier, I was in to about my thighs, but I didn't tell anyone. I couldn't worry about myself right now.

Iggy came over to help, and slowly, they pulled Ivy out of the sand. It made sucking sounds as she got out, scrambling towards the solid ground. Her pale hospital gown was caked with wet sand.

Fang held the front of the stick and Iggy the back as they handed the branch to Chase. Gazzy broke a branch off himself, hoping to pull me out.

"Don't even try," I warned. "You're not strong enough. You'll be sucked in too." Meanwhile, the suction was continuing, slowly pulling me down until my waist was starting to get covered by sand. It was more like mud, thick and wet.

They pulled Chase out with another horrible slurping sound. He slowly walked over to the edge of solid ground, standing besides Ivy. They both had matching sand stains on their hospital clothes.

Fang headed over to me. He looked me straight in the eyes, and I saw doubt. I gripped the branch and felt him pull. Iggy came from behind and pulled on the branch too. I felt the sucking, and I was slowly rising. The quicksand was pulling me in, but I was getting there.

Gazzy pulled on Iggy, and Nudge pulled on Fang. Angel tugged on Nudge, but I doubted they were helping. I smiled anyway as I felt myself get out. There was a sucking noise again, and I found myself on firm, mossy floor. I almost kissed the ground in relief.

I got up, panting, trying to brush off the sand. Even though the room was hot and humid, I was chilled to the bone. Near-death experiences _can_ have that effect on you. "Okay," I said, disoriented. Everyone looked at me, expecting me to be the leader.

Chase started moving things, making plants fly around. Ivy was watching with admiration. "I guess we just wait it out then," I said. In the meantime, I decided to count, just in case. Fang, Nudge, Chase, Ivy, the Gasman, Angel—

"Where's Iggy?" Gazzy asked. He took the words right out of my mouth.

"Iggy? IGGY!" I shouted. I looked around, he'd been there a second ago. My eyes filled with tears. I took a tentative step forward. No sight of him anywhere.

"IGGY?" I asked again. No response. I snapped. "WHERE IS HE? IS THIS SOME OTHER FREAKING TEST?"

"Find him, then," the intercom answered. I looked all around me, seeing nothing. If they'd taken Iggy away, they were going to _pay _big time. I ran forward, hoping I'd fall into whatever trap there might be ahead so I could just go and find Iggy.

I stopped in front of a river. Iggy was on the other side, sitting down, eyes closed. "Iggy?" I asked him. He didn't respond.

Maybe they wanted to test my swimming abilities? Too easy. I felt around the floor and found a small fruit. I threw it into the water. It landed with a small splash. Then all hell broke loose: tiny little fish started swimming towards it. They had razor-sharp teeth, and they attacked the fruit.

It was gone fast and so were the fish. "Piranhas," Chase breathed. I turned around. Everyone had followed me here.

"You sure?" I asked Chase.

"I wish I could forget," he muttered, and I felt like he didn't want to tell me the story of him and piranhas. I could already guess it was no fairytale.

I turned back to Iggy. He was still sitting with his eyes closed. _What the hell is he doing? _The test was way too easy. I'd just fly over, _not get devoured,_ and get Iggy back.

I unfurled my wings and started flapping. I was over the river quickly, and I landed lightly on the other side. I looked around, but no one was in sight. Because that would be too easy, right?

"IGGY! GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!" I shouted. Nothing. I looked to where I came from and didn't see anyone. The flock had disappeared. I was about to burst into tears because this was too much like a nightmare when I heard something.

It was a faint but distinctively Nudge-like voice. She was calling my name. I flew over to the other side, and there they were.

"We saw you freaking out, screaming for Iggy, but he didn't react," Angel told me. Her big blue eyes were worried. Sure enough, Iggy was still there. He hadn't moved a muscle the whole time.

"It's, like, a big mirage over there," I said. "Iggy's somewhere else."

"Where exactly he is would be helpful," Total grumbled. I glared at him and he shrunk away.

"Okay, well, this test has been long enough. Just give us Iggy back," I said to the room.

"Fine," the intercom said. Iggy came tumbling down from thin air, crushing me in the process. He got up quickly and I hugged him, squeezing the wind out of him.

When I calmed down, I looked him in the eyes. "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU, IGGY? YOU SCARED ME HALF TO DEATH!" I shouted.

"I, um, disappeared. Then I just fell on you," he apologized. I paused. Maybe it wasn't his fault. I sighed.

"The test is over," the intercom told us. They'd given me a good scare; I'll give them that. But no one takes my flock away from me. They'd pay. As the trees and plants disappeared, I was already making a plan.

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**A/N: Review. Do it.**

**Fly on!**

**~greysky3**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey! Sad chapter coming up. R&R! **

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The room cleared and we were left in the plain, white room. The flock huddled together. Ivy looked up at me. She had dark circles under her eyes, and looked incredibly beat-up. After all, she was only (possibly) five.

"I want to leave," Ivy said. I looked at her sadly, watching a door open and whitecoats wait there.

"Angel," I said. She snapped her eyes towards me. You could tell she'd been crying. Losing Iggy had shaken us all to the core. _Angel, sweetie, now go tell everyone in their minds what I'm about to say. _

_Okay,_ she thought back. I took a deep breath. _Everyone, attack the whitecoats that take us to our room. Follow me, we're busting out of here. _ Everyone was smiling or nodding. It was time to leave.

I walked towards the door and everyone followed me. The door to the white room closed behind us. Ivy walked up to the front of the group, and just as we were about to start walking with the two whitecoats, she shoved them, one hand on each.

The two men started jerking horribly and they fell, to the ground. I didn't want to know if they were dead.

"Mo—Dr. Hinters said it wasn't deadly," Ivy said, as she ran after me. I remembered these hallways—one to the left, one to the right, and straight over to the exit.

We sped around corners, and luckily we didn't meet anyone. I'd give us a minute more until all hell broke loose. As I rounded a corner to get to the hallway that ended at the exit, I saw the Director, all by himself, with Avery.

I stopped and so did everyone behind me. "I can shock you. You could lose the use of you arm," Ivy warned. That's my little trooper, ready to maim her friend's dad.

The Director just smiled. He pulled out a remote. "This can shock too. And it's deadly."

"We're not wearing the bracelets, though," Chase said. I looked around. He was right. He couldn't hurt us now. I turned to Avery. She was wearing a little kid dress that showed her ankles. She had a chunky, metal ankle bracelet.

"You wouldn't kill your own daughter," I said.

"You wouldn't either," he answered.

"Avery," Ivy breathed. The little girl in question was in tears.

"I'm sorry Ivy, you were right," she said sadly. She stood up a little straighter. "I'm joining them." Before I could say anything, she'd stepped over to us.

My scream, along with everyone else's echoed in my head. She never made it over. She just tripped and fell, shaking uncontrollably. Fang swooped Avery up, and Ivy put both of her hands flat on the Director's chest, enveloping him in a blue crackle.

We ran past, breaking through, and Nudge willed the door to open. We burst out and I didn't even bother to take the elevator. I yanked open a large window, and we all flew out, Fang still carrying Avery's limp body.

! #$%^&*

"Are you sure?" Ivy asked, her voice rough with emotion. I nodded again. "Maybe you're wrong. Maybe she's asleep!" she cried.

I shook my head sadly. "I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do." Fang had closed Avery's eyes, and we'd had the decency to cover her with a picnic blanket we stole. We were in a nearby park, the Betty Hyatt Community Park.

Hidden in the trees, we were discussing Avery's funeral.

"What would she have wanted?" I asked Chase.

"Something on the water," he answered. He'd been quiet ever since we'd left the hospital. I nodded. I turned to Fang, and for once his face showed emotion.

! #$%^&*

It was night, and we had a box with Avery's body. We were at an empty part of the harbor. It must sound sketchy, us dumping a body, but it was more of a funeral. We'd bought flowers and the inside of the plain wooden box we'd gotten from somebody's trash was covered in lilies and baby's breath.

I gently put the box into the water and gave it a push. The soft waves pulled it away from the harbor very slowly. "Goodbye Avery," I started.

"You lived well. I hope you can finally fly away," I said.

"They'll probably find it," Iggy said.

"And she'll be on Bones, with the fancy lab investigating her," Gazzy added.

"She would've like that," Ivy said, her voice breaking. Angel turned to me, silent the whole time.

"Can we go home?" Angel asked.

"Yeah," I said. I needed to get away. It had been too painful already. I turned to Chase and Ivy.

"Can I come?" Ivy asked. I half-smiled.

"Of course. Chase?" He shrugged.

"I'll follow," he said. I smiled and everyone unfurled their wings. I felt like this was supposed to happen, and we'd only been stalling this whole time. Last time we left, I was pretty sure this wasn't really goodbye.

"Are we ever going to come back?" Chase asked Ivy, the wind ruffling both their feathers.

"Later," Ivy said. "With all the memories… I need time."

"How much?"

"Ten years?"

"We'll be fifteen. Deal," he answered. They shook on it and I flapped my wings, taking off.

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**A/N: Next one's the last one. THE SUSPENSE!**

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**Fly on!**

**~greysky3**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Be warned: fluff attack chapter. FINAL CHAPTER OF THE STORY.**

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TEN YEARS LATER

I pulled in my wings, landing in front of the house. They felt warm against my back, the chilly January wind biting at my face. I heard a sound beside me and knew it was Chase.

When you've lived with someone for ten years, you learn to listen for the distinctive flap of their wings. I looked at him. He was grinning, motioning for me to come in.

"Are you sure it's abandoned?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I talked to this guy, who assured me no cop had been here in forever."

"Oh, great, now you're hanging out with criminals." I looked at him disapprovingly, but he just smiled again.

"Open the door!" he urged. I turned the rusty doorknob slowly and found darkness inside. I did what I always do: I placed my hand flat against the wall and put pressure against it, concentrating.

The whole place erupted in a shower of sparks, and every electrical wire in those walls turned on. Lights flooded the house. I stepped in carefully, Chase following me.

My mouth gaped open in shock. The house was missing a back wall. Ripped-up blue plastic barely covered it, and wind blew in it freely.

"So, maybe it needs work," Chase said uncertainly. I looked at the big hole in the floor. You could see straight down to the basement. That _had_ to be a fire hazard.

"It's missing a wall. There's a hole in the floor," I stated calmly, about to explode. This is why you _never_ trust Chase with these kinds of things.

"One kitchen, a living room, two bathrooms, one bedroom…" he trailed off. He'd understood he was losing on that one.

"And you expect us to live here?" I whirled around to him. "And one bedroom? I swear; you did that on purpose."

"Maybe I did, maybe not," he chuckled. I sighed.

"We need to fix the wall," I said.

"Sure."

"Why can't we stay with Max and Fang?" I asked.

"With their kids, they don't have time for us. And we promised, remember?"

"Yeah, I know. We promised to come back to Baltimore when I was fifteen."

"And what day is it?"

"January 4th," I sighed.

"Exactly. So we're both fifteen now," he said.

"Not you," I countered.

"I never even picked a birthday. Can't I choose yours?"

"No," I said, moving over to peer down at the basement through the hole. "Can this criminal friend of yours find us someone to fix the place?"

"We can do it ourselves. You know, log cabin style, the old-fashioned way." I shot him a glare that made half the fairy population die. "Okay, okay, we'll get a contractor."

"How will we explain to them that we don't actually _own_ the house?" I paused. "Maybe _you_ can fix it, old-fashioned way, while I watch."

Chase smirked. "No, it's _our_ house, so we can do it together."

"You'll cheat and move things with your mind," I argued. "And why Baltimore? Couldn't we go to New York? Get an apartment with a view on one of the rivers…"

"They don't have free abandoned buildings in New York. Come on, show some Baltimore pride! This is where we were born."

"For all I know, a test tube is where I was born." Chase gave me a look. "Okay, I'll stop complaining." I laughed. "Hey, this place isn't bad. We'll fix it up."

"And it has a yard for the kids to run around in."

"One, that's a city dump, and two, no kids. You can carry them around in you for nine months if you want them so bad," I answered. Chase rolled his eyes.

"So, we're good?" he asked.

"Fine," I said. I kept seeing things and remembering them: the harbor, the Domino's sign, the lighthouse… All these things had been part of my childhood. Then, I'd moved to Colorado. I had almost forgotten about Baltimore. Maybe it would be good for me to live here. All I knew is that as long as I had Chase, I'd live anywhere.

A toaster flew over to me, missing my head by inches. I live with Chase, I'm used to flying inanimate objects. I held out my hands and it dropped in them neatly. "See, we have a toaster. It's not that bad," Chase said, trying to convince me.

"Great. We're living in a hobo house, but at least we have a toaster," I deadpanned. He looked at me again and I softened.

"Instead of kids, how about a dog?" I suggested.

"A Chihuahua?" he said, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a Great Dane."

He smiled and inched closer to me. "Happy fifteenth birthday, Ivy." He leaned in for a kiss and for a moment I forgot about the wrecked home.

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**A/N: THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED MY STORIES! I'M SO GRATEFUL!**

**Thank you so, so much: SkyGirl68, DoubleRainbowKittehSmasher, Awesomegoat, Nudge look alike, Nudge's Twin.**

**Now, the big question: should I do a fluffy sequel, with Chase and Ivy all grown up?**

**Tell me what you think in a review! THANK YOUUU!**

**Fly on!**

**~greysky3**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: This is not a new chapter. I have decided to make a sequel to Stripes and Feathers. It will be called Lovebirds, and it's about Chase and Ivy, living in Baltimore, all grown up. I do like trilogies!**

**I hope you'll check this story out, it's pure fluff, something that was sort of missing from the two previous installments. Read the next part of the Ivy Avenue trilogy!**

**Fly on!**

**~greysky3**


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